Lana ran…as fast as her small body could allow her. Her bare feet scraped the uneven stone slab that was the street she was running on.

She jumped over an obstacle instead of moving around, but her short dress caught on it and she stumbled instead. Luckily, Lana managed to recover and continued running. The wrapped thing between her arms was undamaged too, so that was another relived.

Lana was afraid to look back, what if they followed her? The thought made her whole body shook, that would mean the end for her, or maybe even her entire family, she knew. So she kept on running.

She frantically turned her head around, looking for a way. Her house was close by, but there was no way to get there without going around the city and wasting time…

‘Time to take a shortcut’ Lana thought, she entered into an alley next to the main road and found a one-floor house with an uneven wall, ‘this will do.’

She threw the wrapped object over the building, and then she started pulling herself up the wall.

Her feet quickly dug into the uneven pavement and started moving her hand upward, one at a time, pulling her body to follow. When she reached the roof, her right thumb had blood seeping out from the sharp stone she grabbed. She sucked the blood up with her mouth, picked up her wrapped thing and continued for her home.

There was no reason to run at this point, she knew, as she jumped from one building to another, no guard will be patrolling on a rooftop. But the feeling of being follow still lingered in her mind, so she picked up the pace and continued going.

When her home was in sight, she looked around for the lowest building she could find, and hopped down into the street below, she luckily hadn’t broken her leg doing so and had safely arrived at the street of slum.

The road was old and poorly made, only big enough for two people to stand next to each other; the street was deserted except for a few children playing quietly around the corner, the building was small and packed together. Lana took a deep breath of the air; it smelled of old food, dead plants, and a year old stink. It smelled of home.

Lana walked through the street anxiously, trying not to catch any attention, thing was different here in the street of slum, people could smell suspicious behavior from a mile away, and would likely report you to the guards to earn a few extra points as much as blackmailing you to their advantage. She greeted the children around the street that she had barely known despite living next to each other, their eyes following the wrapped object in Lana’s arm.

After what felt like forever, she finally arrived at her home sweet home. She repeatedly knocked on the door, murmuring ‘open’ with every hit, she had already risk thing enough.

The doorknob gave a cracking sound, signaling it being unlocked. Lana turned it immediately and smashed herself in.

“Lana, where have you been?!” asked her brother, Ren, half angry and half alarm.

She did not answer, but gave a last quick glance out the door and relocked it.

“Lana?” Her sister, Sophia, realized that she had come back, and went to embrace her “Thanks fate, you are okay.”

Lana nodded, embracing her sister back “Thanks fate that I am okay as well, sister.”

Suddenly Ren pulled her away “What’s that in your arms!?”

Lana gave out a wary smile “Food”

She put the wrapped package she had carried for what felt like a century on the ground and untied it, revealing, a single loaf of bread.

“How did you afford it?” Her brother asked, worrying “Mom and dad don’t even have any point left.”

Lana looked down at her feet, she had to tell them at some point, so she’s might as well get it over with.

“I…” She said, struggling to say the word “Stole it.”

“WHAT!?”

A drop of tear formed on her eyes as her thought recalled the event. She was wandering through the city as she often did on the day without school such as these. She was walking passed through the bread factory and found a container of fresh bread, prepared to be delivered to the noble who reside in the Last Stronghold, and to be eaten as their morning snack or something along those lines. And Lana, half starve from eating so little food, had snatched one from the container and made a run for her home.

A drop turned into a stream as shame overflow her heart, she stole! A crime in any light. But instead of telling her brother and sister whom she loved the story, she decided to tell them the deeper why, out of shame.

“Mom and Dad are cutting their daily ration to feed us” Lana started to say, words pouring from her mouth as tear pouring from her eyes “Any points they earned, they spent it to buy us food. I thought…I thought, us three can share the bread, and save tonight ration, so dad and mom can have it tomorrow…”

A hand was placed on her shoulder, she looked up, and it was her sister.

Sophia wiped the tear off her face “Stop crying, Lana. Let’s eat.”

She smiled and nodded.

Sophia turned back to the bread, and split the bread in half, and handed one of them to her.

“S…Soph” Lana struggled to say “W…we should split it in t…three.”

“Nonsense” She responded and pushed the bread into her arm, then split the other in another half “You the one who stole it.”

“Thank?” Lana responded.

“This is wrong” Ren said, but he joined in the meal regardless.

Lana pulled a small chunk of the brown part off the bread and stuffed it into her mouth, it was sweet, probably was baked with honey or sugar. Its taste brought a tear of joy in her eyes.

‘So this is what the nobles eat…’ She thought, it was better than anything she ever had, and it made her felt guilty for not sharing it with her parents. Maybe she could save half of her part for them, but she would need to find an excuse for its existence though, she was afraid of what they might think of her if they know that she had stolen something.

With another chunk in her mouth, Lana raised her head from the bread and gave a hard look at her two siblings as if she had never seen them before…

Ren, 3 years her elder, was a male teen with thick brown hair and quite well built, resembling their father. He resembled Lana so little that you wouldn’t know at a quick glance that they were related, the only things they had in common was their deep green eyes. He was to join the picking this year too, Lana remembered; she hoped that he could become a mechanic like he always wanted.

Next was her sister, Sophia, 2 years her elder, people had said that they looked very similar and Lana could see it. They both shared a round face, slender built, and the same golden mess of a hair they inherited from their mother. There were differences though, while Lana kept her hair long, Sophia kept hers short that it only reached her shoulder, and her eyes were mother’s ocean blue rather than their father’s green, a lot of people also said Lana was prettier too, the fact that Soph didn’t seem to care.

‘But she was smarter though, and braver too.’ Lana thought, as she biting in another piece ‘She always see thing nobody else see.’

“So…good” Sophia said, and Lana nodded in agreement.

Tch!Tch!Tch! There was a knock on the door, an impatient one.

“What’s that!?” Ren said, alarming.

The bread’s taste turned bitter in Lana’s mouth “They follow me”

“What do we do!?” Ren asked as the knock was beginning to get louder.

Sophia started pulling apart the rest of the bread into smaller chunks that could easily be eaten “We must get rid of the evidence.”

They all started stuffing the bread into their mouth, even the part she was meaning to save for her parents. But the sweet taste it once has had turned sour from the fear that started to form in Lana’s heart. But she’s continued eating regardless.

After the last piece of bread had been eaten, Lana was now forced to confront the guard, who was starting to threaten to bring down the door.

Sophia gave her a pad on the shoulder “Be strong, little sister.”

“I will” Lana promised, wondering whether or not she would be able to keep it or not. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door.

The door of their house open outward and Lana confronted the man outside. He seemed to be a middle-aged man, cladded in white body armor of hard plate and leather, covering his entire body with white boot and gloves, and a helmet with a darkened glass visor. The only part that the uniform didn’t cover was the lower part of his face, which was covered with a shaggy and thick brown beard. Slung behind his back was a military solar gun, and on his chest was a metal badge in the shape of a gun, the symbol of the city’s police force.

“H…hello, officer” Lana said, a small part of her still hope that she can somehow get away with it.

“Don’t try to fake it, girl” He declared, crushing that small hope “I know what you did, and you know what you did.”

“How?” She asked with a breaking voice, a wave of confusion and despair hit her.

He pressed his finger on the device on his wrist and a flash of hologram formed into a small transparent screen over his hand. To Lana’s horror, the screen displayed the footage of her running through the street with the stolen bread in her arm.

“My overseer had complied the footage, and it helps me track you to here.” The watchman said, closing the hologram screen in his hand “What you did is no common transgression, girl, no being quick and nimble going to help you. And besides, your hands are still covered with breadcrumbs.”

Lana quickly looked at her hands, they were, as he said, covered with the breadcrumbs from what they had eaten. She tried to wipe them out with her dress, but then realize that it was useless.

At the other corner of the room, a different door opened and emerged her parents, who had been resting from their tiresome work on the field the day before.

“What is happening, officer?” Her mom asked with a dreadful voice. Though she and dad were agriculturers, classify as people best fit to produce food for the city, that didn’t mean they weren’t smart, as soon as they saw that a city watchman, they knew that something was wrong.

“Well, madam,” The man at their door said, “Your daughter had committed a capital offense; she had stolen something that belongs to the noble.”

“Why would you do this, Lana?” Her father asked, not even trying to find out what she actually stole.

“I…was…hungry…” She tried to explain, every word caught between her mouths. It didn’t sound like a good reason, but it was the best she could say with her terrified state.

Her father turned back to the watchman “What will happen to her now? Officer?”

“According to the updated law by the supreme leader Musol…” He stated, reading from the hologram screen on his wrist “Stealing, especially from the noble, will be punished via execution.”

“Execution?” Lana said, echoing the word, she had expected to take some sort of punishment, but a single loaf of bread going to cost her…her life?

An impact had hit her mother as well “Please, officer, Lana’s a sweet girl, please ignore it just this once, and I promise she will never do it again…”

The man shook his head “Sorry madam, the law is the law.”

Her mother crumbled down to her knee, sobbing, realizing that her no words could save her daughter. Dad kneeled down to comfort her.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, her father raised his head “Do what you must do, officer.”

Something seemed to click inside Lana. She had realized that she was as good as dead now, her parents had given up on her and nothing waited on Lana’s future but the horror of the execution pit.

She didn’t even try to resist as the watchman put a handcuff on her wrist and attached a cord from the handcuff to his own arm so she couldn’t try to escape. But her sister's voice seemed to breathe back some life to her.

“No,” Sophia said, “This isn’t right; nobody should be killed from just stealing a bread, that is ridiculous.”

The watchman turned back and replied with a solemn face “The supreme leader determined what is right and what is wrong, girl, and it is not for us commons to question it.”

“That’s not how right and wrong work!” Sophia disputed and tried to reach out for Lana’s handcuff, but the guard quickly pulled out his solar gun and aimed it at Sophia’s head, forcing her to back down.

“Sophia, stop.” Their father told her “The matter had already settled.”

“But…”

“Soph, it’s alright” Lana found herself said, “It is better this way.”

A streak of tears ran down Sophia’s eyes, this was the first time Lana seen her cried. The two sisters embraced each other.

The officer swung his solar gun back on his back “Your other daughter’s action had bordered on the offense of treasonous talk and disruption of the police force’s work…”

Lana’s heart dropped to her feet, was Sophia to have the same fate as her too?

“…but since it is not a physical offense, I shall ignore it for your mother’s sake.”

Her mother gave the man a smile that was half gladness and half sorrow “Thank you.”

The man nodded and turned to Sophia “Just don’t say those things again; other watchman is not as kind as me.”

“You call yourself kind?” Her sister asked with a dangerously irritated voice.

The watchman ignored Sophia, and left their home, dragging Lana behind him. She took a last look at her home and family.

‘It is better this way…’ That was the last thing she told her sister as an attempt to comfort her and maybe even herself, it might actually be true. Their neighbor often said that, with their jobs, there was no way her mom and dad could raise three children, with Lana gone, Soph and Ren would have their share of mom’s and dad’s ration increase, and they might be able to sustain them till Ren got his own work…

“Maybe it do is better this way…” She said under her breath, the words gave her a strange courage to face what to come.

Lana suddenly felt a tinkling sensation all over her skin, and that was when she realized that she was being stared. The people of the street of slum had come out of their home from the commotion at Lana’s and took on the street, and what they were seeing right now was a watchman arresting her. They started murmuring to each other on what they thought happened.

“Can…we go faster?” Lana asked the guard.

“Why?” He asked back, “Your life going to end regardless, so why the hurry.”

‘He made a good point’ Lana thought, but that didn’t make her happier about it at all.

When they finally leave the prying eyes of the street of slum, they arrived at the train tower, a slender three stories building made of marble, making it an odd sight among the crude building surrounded it. Lana raised her head when the tower was right in front of her, at the top floor, a gigantic glass tube run through the center, and continued around the city to the other 11 similar building for a speeding railroad to ride through, connecting the town together with this mean of transport.

‘The ride that takes me to school every day is going be the ride that I take me to my death.’ Lana thought sadly.

The watchman and his captive climbed the stair of the tower for the third floor, where they waited for the train along with others who wished to travel the same way as well. And once again, everyone was staring at her again, making their own assumption on how did this 11 years old girl was arrested.

‘The eyes…’ Lana thought, her skin felt like there were a million spiders crawling all over it ‘It is already bad that I am going to die a lawbreaker, but worse to have all the city knew about it.’

An eternity later, the train arrived at their tower, its door opened and the people started to pour out.

“Let’s go,” The watchman said and tucked the cord of Lana’s handcuff, signaling her to follow, so she did as he bid. He led her to the last cargo, one which was reserved for the police force, and other than a pair of watchmans who exited the compartment to take the patrol on the street of slum, they had this part of the train for themselves, of which she was gladded.

The officer pushed her on one of the seats, then attached the handcuff’s cord to the spot above her instead of his wrist, ensuring that she will not be able to escape.

As the train started to move, the man who had arrested her reached for the button below his seat pressed it, and it automatically pulled outward, revealing, a pack of water.

“Perk of being a watchman,” He said and pulled one bottle out from the drawer and pushed it back to its original position. He uncapped the bottle and took a big gulp.

After he had drained near half the bottle, he handed it to Lana.

“You can have the rest.” He decided.

“Thank you” She replied, and took the bottle, though it was hard to drink with her hand tied together, she had eagerly drained the rest of the water, which managed to lighten her mood until she realized that this might be the last thing that would ever enter her mouth.

“Lana, is it?” The man suddenly said “Don’t take it personally, okay? I’m just doing my job; I took no pleasure delivering a young girl to her death.”

She nodded in understandment, keeping the supreme leader’s law was his work; after all, she couldn’t really fault him for it.

Faster than she would have wished, the train stopped at the Crushing tower, and outside, she knew, was the execution pit.

They emerged once again from the train, the watchman pulling her by the handcuff as they descended down from the tower, and when they do, in front of them was the entrance of the pit itself.

‘How convenient’ Lana thought bitterly, as they made their way across the street, where another person who wore similar armor as the one who arrested her, but colored black instead of white. He handed Lana’s handcuff cord to him and then said his farewell, but to her or to the pit’s guard, she could not say.

As soon as they went passed the pit’s gate, they unlocked her handcuff and threw it away, and instead started to lead her around with a solar gun instead.

He half guided half forced her to the first checkpoint and forced her hand on their scanner. The hologram of her citizen’s data formed into the air and dissolved away just as fast, signaling her existence was deleted from the mainframe.

‘I’m not even a person now.’ Lana thought, once again sadly.

The man pointed her to the second checkpoint, which was a small building, separating the entrance and the pit itself. So she did as he bid once again. Inside was empty, except for a tray of cloth and a female guard in black armor equipped with the same solar gun.

“Took off your cloth.” She commanded her voiced strict and hard, her gun pointing to the tray of cloth “Your life is doomed, but your garb is still worth something.”

Lana nodded and took the dress she was wearing off over her head. Her emotion turned dark, this dress was her favorite, a grey dress that was originally black but faded, but she had loved its crossing pattern. She still had 2 more spares at home, and Lana supposed that Sophia would be having it now, but dresses were not really her sister’s style of cloth though.

She threw her dress on the pile, gave it a silent farewell and turned back to the guard.

“Your underwear too.” She said.

A drop of tear run down her face as she took off the last thing that was covering her body, and she stride out to the last checkpoint, dirty and naked.

The cold air of the afternoon hit her bare body as she emerged from the building, sending shiver through her spine, one of her hand covering her undeveloped chest while the other pressed between her legs.

“Faster!” The guard near the pit snapped at her “The time for execution is near!”

Lana walked up the step, and finally had the close look at the pit for the first time.

50 feet deep and 20 feet wide, the concrete pit looked like the ground was punched down into the earth. But she couldn’t saw the bottom though, for the pit was covered with pile and pile of naked corpses, rotting and smelling so much that Lana nearly vomited, and here and there she could saw mice crawling through them too. If her history is corrected, the Supreme leader who ordered the pit to be built had decreed that the corpse shall only be removed once a year by way of burning, as a reminder for the people to not break the law.

The guard on the control station pressed a button, and a platform swung up from the pit.

‘I had to stand on it.’ Lana realized, and so she did, the smell and sight of the deep pit made her uneasy and light-headed. Lana had seen the execution in order before, the school once took a few classes to watch it from outside the fence. Every time the clock struck a new hour, the guards will fired their solar gun at the people who were judged guilty and the platform will also retract at the same time, sending the dying lawbreaker into the pit and joined the death below. Later, Soph had told her that it was unnecessary complicated, and she had agreed. Lana nearly smiled at the memory. Nearly.

She started to turn around, killing time as she was waiting to be killed, she was not to die alone, it would seem. Next to her was a young man, standing solemnly as he waited for his death, a young woman standing cross-handed, who seemed to be more in a foul mood than actually afraid, and a boy younger than she was crouching down on his platform, sobbing and crying for his mother. But they did not seem to take notice of her though.

Lana glanced out to the fence, her family was not there, whether or not she was happy that they wouldn’t bear the sight of her death or was sad for not be able to share the last moment of her life with them, she could not say.

As time pass, Lana relished the memory of her life, the time that Ren taught her on Math till the end of the night, the time her mother took her to buy her favorite dress after she received a lot of points, the time that her father took her to see the last time the supreme leader emerged out from his last stronghold 2 years passed. And the time that Sophia…oh, Soph…

She would miss Soph most of all, she knew, she was more than a sister to Lana. She could remember fondly of the time she taught her how to climb, the time they played at the schoolyard, the time she had taken the blame for her when she had broken their family’s relished cup. Even the often time when she rambled out on things and Lana had listened quietly to her for hour on end…

‘I’m okay with this.’ Lana decided, convinced on what she thought ‘With me gone, they will have a better life. I am…at peace.’

The clock rang, signaling the passing hour, and the guards in front of each of them loaded their guns. She closed her eyes.

“It is better this way.”

But suddenly, a louder sound rang, a sound of a…bell?

She opened her eyes; she couldn’t believe what was happening! She turned to the Last stronghold on the horizon, the sound did come from there.

‘A single rung of the Last bell would mean a message at the gathering plaza.’ Lana remembered the protocol ‘But two would mean declaring a curfew, everyone must return to their home and all activity must be ceased…including execution!’

The guard lowered their weapon, waiting for the bell to may or may not ring the second time, and so was everyone who were to be execute, with more positive note.

‘They will probably resume the execution tomorrow.’ Lana knew, yet anticipating for the bell regardless, an extra day would mean that she could return home and tell her family a proper goodbye, she might share a last meal with them and might even a final kissed from her mother and father.

Then the second bell rang, and Lana's heart was shot into the sky from happiness. The guard, knowing the protocol too, started unloading their solar gun. The boy next to her had stopped crying, the woman had smiled, and the man had signed a big wave of relief.

But then the third bell rang.

“What?” Lana gave out a shrieking cry as the third rang of the bell echoed through the city and her crushed spirit. She had never heard the Last bell rang three times before, but she knew what it meant…instead of signaling the curfew, it told the citizen that the supreme leader had died.

“May supreme leader Musol rest in peace,” The guard in front of her said, reloading his gun “And all hail supreme leader Gorbach, may his reign be strong and mighty.”

“No…” The word caught in her throat as the guard blasted his gun, the platform retracted, and Lana fell down to join the death below.